The Real Nicknames of Guernsey County, #1

Not the real Funny Clouse artwork.
I couldn't find any as alarming as his; although the
cyclops look on Prancer there kind of hints at it.

Funny Clouse was an old man with white hair and a red, bulbous nose.  He didn't talk--maybe not at all--so I don't know why everybody called him Funny. Actually, everybody called him Funny Clouse. I never heard the names said separately.

Every December, Funny Clouse would come around to the "Byesville Merchants" on 2nd Street and paint Christmas pictures on the windows of the storefronts and bars. He wasn't a very good painter, though. The reindeer were particularly difficult to recognize. The merchants tried to dissuade him from painting anything with a person face because it could turn out pretty scary. No creche scenes.

Even though Funny Clouse wasn't very good at painting, he got hired by everybody in town every Christmas. I asked my dad why once and he said it was because that was the only money Funny Clouse earned all year.

I have to say, I kind of like these. Funny Clouse's reindeer didn't look like this, though.